DVDs in Anamorphic vs. Letterbox for 4:3 screen

[whitak24]

ok, this might be for the entertainment forum, but since it's more technical than related to a particular movie, i decided to ask here...

i currently have a standard 4:3 tv. i will probably be keeping it for for awhile, and i'm not sure how long it would be till i bought a 16:9 widescreen (probably 5-10 years).

anyway, am i better off getting anamorphic DVDs or letterboxed DVDs? i looked at several sites comparing the two formats and they basically confused me more than they helped me. i would, of course, like as good of quality as possible, but i would also like the picture to take up as much of my screen as possible (with only a 25" tv, the picture starts becoming relatively small when you cut off the top and bottom).

does anyone here have experience with this stuff or expert recommendations?

thanks

[spigidygak]

I personally like letterbox or widescreen over the cropped versions. I like to see the whole picture of what the artist is trying to present. Keep in mind, if you aren't planning to get a widescreen or hdtv set for a while . . . then don't worry about dvd's. The dvds are outdated already. When hdtv becomes a standard, there will be a new format with higher resolution, so buy what you will enjoy now, its mostly personal preferences.

[LPMiller]

All anamorphics DVD's do letterboxing, so you have no worries. Anamorphic on a 4:3 tv either doesn't work, or makes everyone really really tall, depending on the TV, and isn't suggested. However, it's good to buy anamorphic discs, because someday...you'll have a widescreen TV that can handle it.

Not all letterboxed DVD's are anamorphic, but most are. Letterboxed movies on a widescreen will still be letterboxed, though then again, there are widescreen TV's that can stretch that image. It works pretty well, except for those at the 2:35:1 aspect ratio.

[Tommy Boomfiger]

Originally posted by spigidygak
I personally like letterbox or widescreen over the cropped versions. I like to see the whole picture of what the artist is trying to present. Keep in mind, if you aren't planning to get a widescreen or hdtv set for a while . . . then don't worry about dvd's. The dvds are outdated already. When hdtv becomes a standard, there will be a new format with higher resolution, so buy what you will enjoy now, its mostly personal preferences. :stupid:
i agree that dvd is a dying format. movies are already being stuffed onto dvd's especially with all those extra features (hence the need for superbit dvd's). a lot of movies are being compressed which result is slightly lower image quality.
currently there is a new multi layered optical format, which ive heard is in a late cycle of development, stores much larger amounts of data on a disc the same size of a dvd. to my knowledge this format has been around for a few years (not for public) now. so buying dvd's with the future in mind might not be the right thing to do.

[LPMiller]

no, you can still buy DVD's, I mean, the nice thing about the format is backwards compatibility. Besides, DVD is still in the first 5 years - they will not kill it for another 10-15 years.

I mean, you always hear about new and better tech just around the corner, but it's rare you actually see it.

[Tommy Boomfiger]

Originally posted by LPMiller
no, you can still buy DVD's, I mean, the nice thing about the format is backwards compatibility. Besides, DVD is still in the first 5 years - they will not kill it for another 10-15 years.

I mean, you always hear about new and better tech just around the corner, but it's rare you actually see it. sorry, i didnt mean dont buy dvd's, i meant dont buy dvd's with the future in mind. the way technology goes, whats out now can be can sometines obsolite (sp?) in months if not weeks

[hapoo]

IF (and this is a big IF) HDTV's transition takes place as was planned, DVD's WOULD be under a lot of pressure. If a Higher capacity format IS introduced in the next 5 years DVD's are as good as gone. Of coarse the fact that DVD-R's are becoming more and more available will extend its life by quite a while.

[Tommy Boomfiger]

if anyone is interested, here (http://www.c-3d.net) is a company which i working on a multi layered disc. i read about them a couple of years ago. it looks like they are aiming for 20 - 100gb for first gen products and 1 terabyte for 3rd gen. fortunatly they are the same size as cd's and dvd's so it looks like backwards compatability is probable. but reading through the site it looks like there will probably be a whole bunch of format problems like there are with dvd's today.

edit: looks like hapoo posted (http://www.gotapex.com/forums/showthread.php?threadid=13343&highlight=fmd) about the same company 2 years ago

[LPMiller]

They already have multi layer discs, they also have DVDs that hold ridiculous amounts of info. But you are going to run into diminishing returns as regards to quality - DVD's are pretty good already. Even with HDTV, I don't see DVD's getting out right replaced, I see new players that handle the new format and DVD's.

You have to keep in mind just how well DVD's have sold, you also have to remember even if they pull their heads out and finalize HDTV, it's still too expensive for most people. Until you can buy a 18 inch HDTV with built in HDTV tuner for 200 bucks, it won't be wide spread enough for any format that takes advantage of it to push out DVD's. It's going to be awhile yet.